Davis backs Adkins sacking

Southampton club captain Kelvin Davis has claimed his side were right to sack manager Nigel Adkins and replace him with Mauricio Pochettino.

Adkins takes charge of Reading for the first time at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday after suffering a 4-1 defeat in his debut match at the Royals helm at Arsenal last weekend.

Davis has been full of praise for the impact made by Adkins' replacement Pochettino in his first couple of months at Southampton and he has now suggested the decision to dispense with the former's services has been justified.

"The manner in which he (Pochettino) has come in and lifted the club to a new level shows it was a decision to make the change was right," Davis said. "We achieved a lot while he was at the club in a short space of time and the club is continuing to grow without him now.

"There's certainly been a raising in player performance in the last couple of months. The lads have reacted positively to the change. Mauricio and his staff have come in and communicated very well and everything they are trying to pull off the lads are soaking up and fortunately we are putting that into our performances."

Davis believes there has been a change of mentality in the Saints dressing room since Adkins was sacked, with wins against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea boosting their survival hopes.

"We are in a state of mind where we can feel we can win every game at the moment and we will go to Reading to do that," he said. "A lot has been said about our wins against the big teams, but it is about winning every game and putting yourself in a position when you are looking up the table rather than behind us.

"There is no doubt that we could have been clear of relegation concerns already with our performances since the new manager came in, but we have a chance to do that before we get to the final few games of the season."